Verizon to charge $2 'convenience fee' for paying your bill

It looks like Verizon customers are getting yet another punch in the gut today as Big Red has stated plans to start charging a $2 fee for paying your bill. You'll still have a few options to avoid the so-called "convenience fee", but those who want to pay with a debit or credit card online or via call-in will get smacked with the fee. You can still choose to use auto-pay, electronic check, in-store options and a few others to avoid the $2 surcharge however. So Verizon customers - what are your thoughts on this? sound off in the comments!

$5 for att is only if u pay over the phone with an agent, not if u use online option, or the automated system, or the text2pay option. For u Verizon customers the pay ur bill in coins thing would be funny, take someone with a video cam with u and post them on youtube :p

I already setup auto-pay from my business operating acct, so I guess I'm covered. Encouraging customers to use online services likely reduces the number of FTE's that VZW has to keep around, so I don't really agree that their total cost of doing business increases with an increase in credit card processing fees. Heck, they're probably getting a discount for having so many!

I'll just pay it in the store and make sure a Verizon rep helps me make the payment. I figure if I tie them up for about 5 mins it will cost Verizon a buck or two. If enough people do that you'll see the $2 fee go away.

on the 16th of January when my cycle is up I am going to the Verizon store to pay 107.00 in pennies in zip lock bags. I will either wait for my receipt or just tell them I will pick it up. Sounds dumb, but the manager will have to count it and then they will bitch to the DM and so on.

If I was the Manager, I would just direct you to the Bill Payment Kiosk so that you could feed all those nice shiny pennies (one at a time) in to the machine to pay your bill on your own. That way you could leave with your receipt. LOL

A lot of misinformation in this article, from the official Verizon release all of these methods are free of the fee including paying by electronic check online and via electronic check via telephone;

1.Electronic check online (My Verizon Online, My Verizon Mobile/Handset). Fee waived.
2.Electronic check via telephone. Fee waived.
3.Enrollment in AutoPay using credit/debit/ATM card or electronic check; fee does not apply
4.Online from the customer’s home-banking service provider website; fee does not apply.
5.Credit/debit/ATM card, electronic check or cash at a Bill Payment Kiosk, Panel or with a representative at a Verizon Wireless Communications Store; fee does not apply.
6.Use of a Verizon Wireless Gift Card or Verizon Wireless device Rebate Card to pay a bill in-store, online or by telephone; fee does not apply
7.Paper check or money order mailed to the VZW remit address on customer’s bill; fee does not apply.

UPDATE: I just called and the VZW rep was like "oh you heard about that" and "I'm not suppose to talk about it but...." - he claimed to have all the details though so here's what I got:

Not being announced in advance (enough) or on the statements a month in advance or an email or whatever way they inform people of fees and rate hikes is another ball drop by these big f'nuts as this fee is going in effect on 1/15/12 - unreal....haha

Bottom line is the best option to still use a credit card (no brainer to earn points/miles/whatever AND defer the payment another 20-30 days before that payment may be due) is to enroll in auto-pay and they won't mail you statements anymore. I haven't had mailed payments in a long time personally and I was able to set my auto-pay date just 1 days before my normal due date of the 10th.

People saying they will wait and double up on payments to only incur one fee are wrong because a $5 late fee hits 5 days after your due date.

Paying in store is still free with a credit card or not using the kiosks

It's not as bad as it seemed just now you can't manually initiate it on the due date like I used to.

So let me get this straight, they provide you guys a service for which they charge a sum which they feel is fair. The they charge you $2 for paying the bill for the charges of the services they provided. Only in America. Don't you guys have a regulatory authority which stops the carriers from doing this shit?

I understand it, but it still pisses me off. To pay in-store makes sense because you're dealing with a person that acquires a wage for doing something for you. With paying online, I understand there is a fee that VZW incurs for having to process your credit card. Boo, hoo. It's pennies if that, and you know what? Negotiate your contract better. Don't pass your lack of negotiation skills onto your customer to offset your fees. At most the fee for each visa transaction is fifty cents. So you're quadrupling that fee and passing it on to the customer? That's great if you want to piss them off.

I was upset about this until I read that they are not charging this fee for using an electronic check. I always pay using electronic check (vs. using my debit card), so if I'm reading correctly, it won't affect me. A lot of the places I pay bills electronically charge extra fees for using credit or debit cards, so this doesn't surprise me all that much. If I'm not mistaken, they have to pay a fee to run a charge against a credit or debit card (to Visa or MasterCard), so they are probably just trying to recover that cost.

Actually, paying with a check might be the BEST option if you have a checking account (and enough $ in it to avoid concerns about overdrafts). Sure, it takes a little more time on your part, and the postage charge (in the US) is almost 25% of the $2 convenience fee - but there's a reason that companies are urging us to use electronic payment methods. Processing physical checks is costly for them. Switching from credit cards to checks (rather than automatic bill payment via your bank) will help offset the extra revenue that Verizon expects from their "convenience" fee.

Additional fees for VZ lack of service and their nonability to do anything other then tell you to go on line for any software issues while you are at their store asking for service/assistance. Hmmmmm.....what is they do now anyway but stand around and try to sell you product...not to say all service folks at the VZ stores are not knowledgable but it has changed over the past 5 to 10 years regarding what they are capable of doing. Additional fees yes are the cost of doing business now but as customer service declines what is it we are paying for again????

I "really" wish i could say this is not surprise to me, but seeing how it is just another way to squeeze money out of me, not so much... What ever happened to the good old quality of service, ya know? Going above and beyond... I guess all I can hope for it 2 things: 1. They find out this was a really bad idea and "un-do" it. OR 2. All my calling and complaining will lead them to credit me the money back.

are you sure about your facts? and if they cant disconnect, but can sue for the missed junk fees and win, collect interest/late fees as well as court costs, what has customer accomplished?
a lot of discussion threads on sprintusers.com over sprint nickel and dime practices; yet no one yet came up w/ advice such as this.

They need to cut out overhead elsewhere instead of charging an extra fee and passing it to the consumer. They didn't charge before, why now? I use bill pay so I'm not affected, but many others are. its not fair to charge the consumer extra for the way they pay their bill. Can someone please tell this company they shouldn't provoke their customer base with more fees? Figure it out hi-level executives, you guys make enough $ as it is!

The local Electric Utility in Arizona tried to charge $5 for paying on line. So many people just went back to paying with paper checks that the fee ended in a month. How is hand processing a check cheaper than paying online?
Its a bunch of BS to make more money. I pay my VZW bill through the local phone company cause I have a Bundle with VZW Direct tv and Internet from phone company so I guess it wont apply to me.

As usual everyone blows this out of proportion. Nearly all companies do this (including bank credit cards) and the fee is very easy to avoid:

1. You can pay the old fashioned way and send in a check with your paper bill (bad idea).
2. You can send a Bill Pay payment through your bank (easier)
3. You can set your account up on auto-pay to your checking account or credit card (easiest).

What this fee is trying to do is to get everyone to use methods #2 or #3 above which is far less expensive for the company to process.

No.. what it is .. is that people like u dont mind changes when it doesnt affect you..So u bitch about others stating what does affect them..

As for Auto Pay.. U ever get an error on your bill?? And lets say now they pulled out a crazy amount of money out of your acct becuz of an error and it makes other checks or payments bounce?? You ever try to get these companies to GIVE you back money owed to you in their error??? To hear them say.."we will just credit your next bill"??

And what if you just dont want to pay through your banks bill pay? Or happen to be not banking with an institution that offers it?? You see.. its not as cut and dry as "As usual people blowing out of proportion".. Bottom line.. they make a boat load of money in all their other fees and features.. and all their data limiting shit..

There is NO REASON to now want 5 bucks to be responsible and pay ur F ing bill... Especially ON TIME!!!

Any small business knows that credit and debit card fees eat us alive. I don't blame them a bit. And that person who takes your phone payment? They have to pay her as well. Her hourly wage, her medical, her employee taxes.....her sick days, her vacation days.....

First VZW isn't a small business ($32.5 billion revue in last 3 years)! Secondly, companies like Sprint, AT&T, TMO and VZW are beneficiaries of huge tax loopholes and subsidies.. So, for them to charge this 'convenience fee' is just more money in their pockets.

If Verizon was a small business, maybe I would agree, but they get a corporate rate for all their transactions, a fee so low it would make a small-business owner's head spin when they compared it to their own rate for swiping cards. But that's not enough for them. They'll pass it on to you, and you'll pay it, cuz their network is the only one that works in so many places.

They must not be aware of what is going on in the economy. Here's a thought.... Why don't we all cancel our cell phone account and start bringing back the house line. No bells and whistles just a plain old house line. If these companies think they have it bad now just wait utill they have no revenue coming in.

US Cellular has done the same thing basically. When they rolled out their new plans, they started to offer a discount to people who signed up for auto-pay. 3% for credit card and 5% for checking account draft.

It's way better for customer relations to offer a discount as opposed to charging a fee. End result is the same however.

.all these companies and banks will try anything to pass the buck on the consumer for THEIR credit cards fees. Think I'm gonna get $150 worth of rolled coins to pay my next bill at the store. I'll make sure to inform them that it will be a regular thing EVERY month.

Aspiring BlackBerry Expert
PIN: 23D39B3Cit probably is but those fees are a cost of doing business and they should have that built into their service charge now they are flat out saying you the custmer must pay this ATT started this a while ago charging a fee to pay in store face to face with a rep if they had a payment machine on premises not sure if theybstill do

If VZW wants to put everyone on auto pay, there should be some kind of reward to the customer. Further, if they are so hot to get paid, why don't they make their prepaid plans much more attractive? There is no nonpayment risk, but they charge even more for those plans, which is counter to every business principle.

Also, signing a document allowing a company to willy nilly draft one's checking account is not only dangerous, it's stupid. What if VZW messes up your bill? What about all the little charges they like to add, without your permission, just like the land line companies did?

Besides, it's much cheaper for them if I do the data input in paying the bill. If they want to press, this, I will be pleased to cancel electronic statements and pay by check. That is the most costly way for me to do business with them. I realize they backed off, but I think as many customers as possible should turn off electronic statements for a month and do it the old way. It would definitely give them a hit on the income statement and a reminder no to do crap like this.

@housane: Yes, it should be. I got out of a T-Mobile contract that way. They changed their rates on text messages that you send/receive when you didn't have a texting plan and I called them on it and they let me out of it with no cancellation fee.

We should just flood their stores with people wanting to pay their bills there since we won't be charged the $2. Sure it may take us a bit longer to pay but like the small store in my mall, it could get easily overwhelmed by just 30-40 people there at the same time. While we are waiting we could be dissing verizon to the potential customers there looking at phones, thereby driving away new business for their overpriced services.

And be sure to pay in pennies. Believe me, if you were to get enough people in enough states to do this, there WILL be coverage. News programs love to cover "payment in pennies" stories, so could you imagine if this was done nation-wide???

BINGO!!! Make their Reps lives a living hell.. If not all pennies, use as much coins as possible.. And believe me, word will get around and it will become a movement. Bank of America tried this same shit with debit cards.. They Quickly learned the power of the people..

As for the "Deathstar" and "Sprint" doing this.. They actually charge u if u want to pay in store and not use the payment machines, online or pay by phone (which in a way I can understand becuz ur actually tying up a rep from other functions when there are other options even right there in the store)..

A $2 fee to pay my bill? A fee to pay my bill?! Great idea, why not penalize people for being responsible. What else can we charge them for? Paying early, paying on the due date after a certain time, not paying from their home computer, paying at night after business hours, paying at the kiosk at the mall, and eventually for paying at the nearest Verizon store oh and paying with cash.

I've heard the term cash cow before but Verizon is a whole herd and they're full of it.

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